Better than expected.

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2005)

Just another typical special-effects-driven high-adrenaline action thriller from Michael Bay, quite alike the ones he did before. If you like his other films, you'll like this one too; and if you don't, sorry to disappoint you again. There are plenty of loopholes in the story, yet they managed to sustain the viewers' attention even when the film became a cat-and-mouse chase story after only forty minutes. Bay actually does a fine job to change the scenario from time to time to prevent this thing from becoming obviously boring. Still, he had to include some sequences that are indeed silly as the harsh critics keep telling.
Well, I'm not going to point out the plot holes or what could have been done because that will ruin the very purpose of this film. This is a film to watch in good theaters, to look at the screen wide-eyed, to mutter a few praises for the marvel of modern CGI and to have a good take on popcorn. This is not a film to think about too much. Bay ensured that. He mixed calculated amounts of everything -- sci-fi, action, comedy, sex, morals. The comedy portions need to be mentioned as they are smartly written and performed well by Steve Buscemi. The dialogues are not as cheesy as I feared. For the acting, Ewan McGregor does a nice job, especially as the creepy Tom Lincoln. Scarlett Johansson gets an easy take here after the films she's done recently.
That sums up everything. As a whole this movie fails to stand up as something exceptional. But a lover of Bay's style would definitely love it. I still think of "The Rock" as Bay's best, but this comes close. It is not a movie to throw all the bad criticism for not being something it's not supposed to be.